Telecommunications

Background

Belize’s telecommunications sector is regulated in accordance with the Telecoms Act 2002, the act enacted in August of 2002, liberalizes telecommunications market in Belize and gives responsibility for regulating to the Public Utilities Commission which was established in 2000.

Current providers in the market are Belize Telemedia Limited the incumbent and full service provider and Speednet, who was duly licensed as a full service provider in August of 2003. The entities operate under various interconnection agreements which allow uninterrupted services to customers of both companies. In August of 2009, the Government of Belize nationalized Belize Telemedia Limited, and the government owed entity now competes directly with Speednet. As a result of the nationalization process, the interconnection agreements are again subject to negotiations.

Both BTL and Speednet boast a full range of products and services including basic telephone services, national and international calls, prepaid services, cellular services via GSM 1900 megahertz (Mhz) and 3G Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 respectively, international cellular roaming, fixed wireless, dial-up and internet, high-speed DSL, internet service, and national and international data networks.

Sector Performance

The data below indicates the telecoms sector performance in terms of access between 2000 and 2007.

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